Organization says pro-Palestine protester should lose job, free speech group disagrees

An organization publicly questioned two hospitals for employing individuals who participated in pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, but free speech advocates said that Americans have the right to “both a career and a political opinion.”

Accuracy in Media is running two separate petitions against Alameda Health and UW Harborview Medical Center, respectively, in an attempt to make the hospitals evaluate whether they should employ the pro-Palestinian protesters in question.

Accuracy in Media (AIM) is a nonprofit “that uses investigative journalism and cultural activism to expose corruption and hold bad public policy actors accountable,” according to its website.

Both AIM petitions demand “get hate out of your hospital,” and ask whether someone who participated in a “violent mob” that “was pro-Hamas” can uphold his or her “promise to ‘do no harm.’”

According to AIM, Alameda Health will welcome into its residency program an individual who was arrested for participation in a college campus pro-Palestinian protest, while UW Harborview employs a nurse who participated in a different pro-Palestinian college protest that caused over $1 million in damage.

However, a Harborview spokeswoman told The Center Square that the employee AIM is concerned about “is no longer employed” by the hospital.

“Their separation from the organization occurred in May of 2025,” the spokeswoman said. She did not respond when reached again and asked why the parting of ways occurred.

AIM asserts that “it’s entirely acceptable to be peaceful, pro-Palestine, and anti-genocide,” but believes that participating in a violent, pro-Hamas “mob” is incompatible with being a medical professional, according to its petitions.

“At AIM, no one who is proven to be a radical antisemite will be forgotten, unless they are willing to publicly renounce their abhorrent behavior,” an AIM release said.

AIM President Adam Guillette told The Center Square that “no one should have to receive health care from a medical provider who supports terrorism or engages in violence.”

Guillette said that the two individual’s “actions have made it abundantly clear that they cannot be trusted to adhere to the Hippocratic Oath.”

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) – a free speech defense group –sees things differently than AIM does.

FIRE Director of Public Advocacy Aaron Terr told The Center Square that “Americans should be able to have both a career and a political opinion.”

“Our democracy relies on people feeling free to participate in public debates on important issues,” Terr said.

“A strong norm against firing people for their off-the-clock speech on widely debated political issues contributes to a healthy culture of free speech,” Terr said.

“Of course, private employers have the right to assess whether someone is fit for the role, especially in fields like medicine, where patient safety and trust are critical,” Terr told The Center Square.

“Criminal behavior or repeated violations of university policies can rightly raise concerns,” Terr added. “But that’s very different from punishing someone solely for controversial speech or advocacy, especially when there’s no evidence it impairs their ability to do the job.”

“Participation in a pro-Palestinian protest, for example, should generally not be disqualifying,” Terr said. “And while most employers don’t want to hire someone who actually hates Jews or Muslims, accusations of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia can cast a very wide net, sweeping in people who are simply critical of the Israeli government or of Hamas.”

Terr said that “since Oct. 7, there has been a disturbing surge of firings based on people’s views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

“Too often, these decisions are hastily made in response to social media outrage or coordinated pressure campaigns, rather than through careful consideration of whether someone is truly unfit for the job,” Terr said.

“That makes it dangerously easy to wreck someone’s career simply for holding views that a vocal group of online activists dislike,” Terr said.